According to the President, the key to our European future are 4 core values, including "balancing power to avoid the temptation of authoritarianism"
President Salome Zurabishvili names four main principles that Georgia must follow on its way to Europe.
As Zurabishvili said in a speech at the Independence Day event on Freedom Square, one of the main principles is "balancing power to avoid the temptation of authoritarianism."
"There is a historic opportunity on the road to Europe. This road to Europe was not opened without bloodshed and without sacrifice. Our ancestors paved this way! Our age-old aspiration was based on the realization that common values united us and connected us to European civilization, and while defending the Georgian faith, identity and values from a number of conquering empires, we were also defending Europe. These shared values encompassed everything that is the key to our European future today, i.e. the 4 core values and principles:
1) A fair court, which dates back to many centuries in Georgia and is based on the statutes of Georgian law: it is be the customary law of antiquity, the 13th century "book of all the mistakes of men", the 14th century King Giorgi the Brilliant criminal law or the law of a unique collection of statutes of Vakhtang VI. The history of Georgian law would have adorned many European countries, and it is a bit of a shame that we cannot continue this legacy properly today.
2) The cornerstone of Georgian culture was considered to be the defining value for Europe - tolerance and diversity. Even today, we and Europe owe it to ourselves to continue this tradition.
3) Christianity in Europe and Georgia commanded us to recognize the human being as the center of the world and, therefore, to respect and protect all his/her rights, and when I say a human being, I say woman. On our way to Europe, this is also on the agenda.
4) Finally, balancing power to avoid the temptation of authoritarianism. The twelfth century of Queen Tamar is associated with the first outline of the division of executive and legislative branches and balancing in the form of a 'Karavi' and a 'Darbazi', which is considered to be one of the foundations of Georgian parliamentarism," Zurabishvili said.
